Every solo business owner has a set of core principles or values that determine how his/her business is operated.
Some owners are very methodical and precise. Others tend to fly by the seat of their pants, so to speak.
No two businesses are run exactly the same.
But regardless of your methods and strategies, there are some very fundamental execution principles that all successful solo businesses seem to adopt.
Some business owners catch onto these ideas quickly. They learn them early on in their business career and adopt them as a daily method of operation.
Others gradually move toward these ideas through trial and error as they learn in their own business exactly what works and what doesn't.
As you think about these 10 core solo business ideas, let your mind run free as to how you might implement each one.
No, they don't have to be incorporated all at once, or even this year. You may decide that you are already well on top of three or four of these ideas. That's fine ... just go do the ones that aren't manifesting themselves in your business right now.
Pick one idea first ... any one will do ... and work on that single item for the next week or month. Then move toward implementing your second highest priority item while still keeping your first change as a daily part of your business execution.
Of course, the principle here is that you systematically adopt every one of these ideas and make it a priority within your daily business routine - forever!
Now, I know what you're thinking ---> I don't have time to add anything else to my plate right now ... I'm too busy as it is.
My question to you is this: can't you find some activity that you do on a daily basis that doesn't add a cent to your business bottom line? Most small business owners have a bunch of these practices that hold them back from being more effective.
Dump one of these time wasters and you'll have room for a new core principle that will pay you handsomely.
Here are the ten great ideas that all solo business owners should adopt:
1. Don't spend money on a fancy office, equipment, or furnishings. Small business owners need to conserve their cash. High fixed monthly expenses aren't necessary. I have heard it said "The size of the owner's desk is inversely proportional to the size of his take home pay." Wouldn't you rather have money in your pocket at the end of the month instead of money in your landlord's wallet?
2. Pay attention to administrative details. Don't wait until March to start thinking about looking at your books for last year's tax purposes. Don't hunt for business receipts and expense reports months after they should have been filed. Stay current on your bookkeeping and bill paying. Answer important mail and emails quickly and get them out of the way.
3. Develop a personal relationship with your customers. Sure, if you have a huge mailing list there is no way you can know every customer on an intimate basis. But you can go out of your way to personalize your approach to all your communications. Let the people that pay you see what you are like. Let them know that you care about them and want to help them with all things related to your business. Take every opportunity you can to keep great information flowing from your business to the customers in your niche without constantly worrying about getting paid to share your knowledge.
4. Focus on developing a revenue generating system in your business that begins with making a single dollar first. You are not going to start a four or five figure monthly business in thirty days (contrary to all the hyped up claims of the get rich quick marketers.) In the beginning, start by making a single sale, then another and another. Give priority to setting up a revenue generating system that you can reap over and over again. Once your system is in place, you can figure out ways to ramp up your sale by adding additional products, increasing your customer base, and expanding your marketing.
5. Surprise your customers by giving them more value than they expect for their money. Yes, the term that is often thrown about is "over delivering." This one idea will separate your business from 95% of all your competitors. Think about your own experience as a customer. How many times have you been positively surprised at receiving way more value for your dollar than you bargained for? Those episodes are few and far between for most of us but they can make lifetime customers for any business.
6. Don't let yourself get stuck in the learning mode. I have suffered from this self defeating business behavior myself. Learning every fine point of small business operation and execution will not cause you to become one dollar richer. Execution is the key. Certainly there is a place for learning ... but it is a far better strategy to "learn as you go." You are not expected to run your business flawlessly from day one. Many, many would-be entrepreneurs never develop traction in their business because they wrongly believe that everything has to be perfect before they open their doors to their niche.
7. Understand the difference between working on your business and working in your business. You should spend significant time working on your business as you set up your sales funnel, your customer communication system, your back end product system, your marketing and prospect conversion system, etc. These are all "systems" that you can automate so that you effectively leverage your time on a daily basis. Don't confuse these important systems with working in your business trying to personally handle every little detail that comes up as though you were a shop keeper in 1950. You can't operate that way online today. Systematize and automate everything you can. Work smarter, not harder.
8. Don't let your business consume your family life. Of course, the tendency of most small business owners is to become workaholics, often sacrificing the most important things in life ... their family, spouse, personal health, friends, church, service to others and all the important relationships that allow humans to thrive. Read #7 above again. Set up your online solo business to function like a well-oiled machine in your absence. Take daily breaks, long weekends, and summer vacations. If you can't afford to step away from your business completely at times, you have not set up your admin execution systems properly!
9. Learn to focus on one major task or project at a time. Too much emphasis is placed on "multi-tasking" these days. Most entrepreneurs have a thousand big ideas for their business. They let their shotgun approach (scatter pellets in all directions at once and you're bound to hit something!) water down their focus. A much better and more lucrative approach is to adopt the pinpoint accuracy of a sniper's rifle. Focus on the bullseye of one single target and don't worry about anything else. Hit the mark quickly, accurately, and make your kill. Then move on to a new target. It's the way smart online business is done.
10. Marketing is your #1 job. Period. There are a million and one things you can spend your time on as a solo business owner; but only two of them will bring you dollars. Those two daily activities are marketing and product development. Marketing includes a ton of things related to finding prospects, branding, converting prospects into customers, servicing those customers, etc, etc. Product development is adding new things to sell to your product line. No other activities will bring you money directly. Marketing should be your #1 focus and product development your #2 focus. You have to get your offer "out there" in full view of your targeted customers. If you don't, your business will flounder regardless of how great your product line may be. Everything else can be given a lower priority or it can be outsourced to other people.
I hope these core business ideas will help you to focus your business thinking around doing those things that will really make a difference in the amount of money your business earns. It is not enough to simply work tirelessly every day in your business. Get the core principles right and the money will flow to you.
